Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Chelsea
The guys dropped me back at my apartment and headed off to training. I decided on a long soak in the tub to loosen my aching muscles. The guys had given me one hell of a workout. Few places on my body weren’t sore. I’d never been so thoroughly fucked in my life. It was absolute perfection.
After an hour, and several chapters of the romance book I was currently reading — a hockey romcom — I reluctantly dragged myself out of the bath and dried off. I stepped out of the bathroom wearing only a towel and let out a squeak.
My brother stood in the kitchen, making coffee. His back was to me, but I’d know that man bun anywhere.
He turned around and smiled. “Hey.”
“Hey. You know you shouldn’t break into people’s apartments, right?” I eyed him meaningfully.
“I have a key.” He reached into his pocket and pulled it out.
“Do I want to know how you have a key to my apartment?” I asked. I held the towel in place with one hand and waved the other in front of me. “Never mind. I’m guessing you’re here for a reason?”
“I don’t do anything without a reason.” He turned back to pour two coffees before adding three scoops of sugar and about a quarter of a cup of milk to his.
“Are you going to tell me what it is? Is this about Belinda Simmons?” I winced. Did I want to know? “Is she?—”
“Dead?” he suggested. “Yeah. She was disappointing, to be honest. I didn’t think she’d give up so quickly. She’s been dealt with. I know you don’t want to know how.”
I shook my head. “You’re right, I don’t.” I stepped over beside him and picked up the other coffee. “Thanks.”
He grinned. “What are big brothers for if they can’t make their sisters coffee once in a while? And bring them good news about the problems they’ve solved.”
“I’m not sure if it’s good news.” I ended the sentence with a sigh. “I didn’t want it to come to this. If she’d just kept her nose out of my business…”
He placed a hand at the base of my neck, just above my shoulder blades. “You always had a big heart. You want people to be better. If they were, the world might be a nicer place. Boring, but nice.” He ran the pad of his thumb up and down my spine. Soothing like no one else could.
“Boring isn’t such a bad thing,” I said.
“Boring is a terrible thing,” he contradicted. “Imagine what I’d get up to if I was bored for too long. No one would be safe.”
I snorted a laugh. “That’s true. Are they safe now, though?”
He chuckled. “Probably not. There’s only a handful of people in the world I would never hurt. You’re high on the list. I can’t say the same about whoever left the cuts and bruises on you.” He grazed the tip of one finger across a nick on my throat, making me shiver.
“It was consensual,” I said quickly. If he thought otherwise, the guys would be chained up side-by-side in his workroom. Not in an enjoyable way.
“It better be,” he growled softly. “No one hurts my sister and lives to tell the tale.”
“Your concern is sweet,” I said, “but I’m big enough to take care of myself.”
“You’ll never be too old for me to stop worrying about,” he said. “And taking care of. Who else is going to kill your enemies for you?”
I shivered. “Honestly, I hope the answer to that is no one.” I wished the answer was that I had no enemies. I wasn’t na?ve enough to believe that, not exactly. They might not be my enemies directly, but rather people who’d come after me to get back at my brother, or the rest of my family.
“In reality, Mannix and Ares would help if I asked them to.” He lowered his hand from my throat and picked up his coffee. “Also, I bought you a present.” He nodded over to a bag on the coffee table.
“Please say that’s not Belinda’s head in there,” I groaned. The idea made my stomach turn. I’d seen plenty of dead people at work. I didn’t need parts of them at home.
He snapped his fingers. “I should have thought of that. Too late. No, I got you something else.”
Warily, and with one eye on him, I stepped over to the table and gingerly opened the bag.
“Oh, you brought me pyjamas and bed socks?” I asked.
He grinned. “They have little footballs all over them. I couldn’t resist.”
I pulled out the purple pyjamas that were indeed decorated with tiny footballs. The socks matched. “They’re adorable.”
“Try them on,” he said.
I’d never been shy about being naked, not even in front of him, so I dropped the towel to the floor and pulled on the pyjamas. They were warm and snug. Just what I needed after a long, hard night. The socks were soft and also fit perfectly.
“They make you look sixteen again,” he remarked.
I cut him a look before returning my gaze down to my feet. “This is very thoughtful, thank you.” I stepped over to kiss his cheek.
“You’re welcome.” He kissed mine in return. “Do we need to talk about who left the cuts and bruises on you?”
“If it keeps you from accidentally killing them,” I said. I grabbed the coffee and sat down on the couch, my feet tucked up close to me. I told him briefly about Storm, Frost, Dallas and Atlas.
“It sounds like you’re dating the Marvel Universe,” he teased.
I smiled but flipped him off. “I think you mean the DC Universe, but Frost’s first name is Daniel, not Killer.”
“I’ve always thought Killer Ice sounded better than Killer Frost,” Ice said. “Actual frost is not much more than an inconvenience. But ice, ice will kill you.”
“Then your nickname is appropriate,” I said.
“It’s scarier than the Amazing Pyjama Giving Man,” he agreed.
I giggled. “No one would ever be scared of him. He’s way too silly.”
“That’s what he wants you to think,” Ice winked. “He lures unsuspecting people with gifts of cute sleepwear, then he pounces.” He mimed pouncing in my direction, like a cat.
“When you put it that way, he sounds terrifying,” I said, still smiling. “Is that why you brought me pyjamas? So I’ll let down my guard and bring more people like Belinda?”
He cocked his head. “I did it because I wanted to, but I guess it’s kind of a thank you. She was fun. While she lasted. I wouldn’t mind if you brought me more people like her. If those guys of yours piss you off, you know where to find me.”
“I’m sure it won’t come to that,” I assured him. Or maybe I was assuring myself. “Besides, it might be difficult to make professional rugby players disappear without anyone noticing.”
He placed his empty mug on the table and steepled his fingers before pressing them to his lips. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way. I know a guy who managed to make some high-profile people disappear during the world tour of a famous rock band. With a bit of help from the Brantley twins.”
“Don’t take that as a challenge,” I warned him. “We want the rugby players alive, okay?” I looked at him firmly. I’d be cranky if he killed any of my boyfriends. And so would they. I saw how quickly Storm and Frost were getting close to each other while at the same time, getting closer to me. If anything happened to either of them, the other would be devastated. As would I.
“As long as they behave themselves, they have nothing to worry about,” he assured me.
“Funny, I told them the same thing an hour or two ago,” I said. “Dating any of them is walking a line with the team as it is. I don’t want our relationship to get in the way of my job, or theirs. I care about them, but I need to secure my position with the Smashers first.”
“You could go back to working at Flirts if you have to,” he said. “Or better yet, I could give you money if you need any.”
I gaped at him, disbelieving. “How did you know I worked there?” My face was suddenly hot. I thought I’d done a good job keeping that a secret from him and our parents.
“I keep track of my baby sister.” He didn’t look even slightly apologetic. “Wherever you work and whatever you do there, I like to know about it.”
At least he didn’t say ‘whoever you do there.’ That might have been followed by me throwing my coffee cup at his head.
“You don’t look upset about it,” I said.
“You have a beautiful body.” He gestured towards me. “If you want to dance and show it off to people, why would I be upset about it?”
“It strikes me as something a guy wouldn’t want his baby sister to do,” I said. “Especially one as overprotective as you are.” I wasn’t sure if I pulled off the dark look I tried to give him. He was usually immune to my annoyance.
“I was slightly uncomfortable with it at first,” he admitted. “But then I thought about it and went to watch you one time and?—”
My jaw dropped like the hinges on each side broke. “You watched me?” How did I not notice him in the crowd?
“Only for a little while. I didn’t want to intrude. Long enough to see you were comfortable up there, in your own skin. Then I left. Does it bother you that I was there?”
“I suppose not,” I said slowly. “I guess I should be glad you didn’t drag me off the stage in front of everyone.”
“I think your audience would have been disappointed if I tried.” He grinned. “They were enjoying the show.”
“You didn’t tell Mum or Dad, did you?” I winced.
“Of course not,” he said. “Dad might have taken himself down there and tried to drag you out. Him seeing you naked would be all kinds of awkward.”
“That’s an understatement,” I said.
Top of my list of things I didn’t want to have happen. Fortunately, our father didn’t seem to have stepped foot inside the club. Our mother would have strangled him if he had, for one thing. Possibly me for working there too. The less they knew about that, the better.
“Anyway.” He placed his hands on his knees. “I should get going. It’s my turn to cook dinner tonight and I need to go and buy the ingredients to make something special.”
“Some kind of anniversary?” I thought for a moment, but couldn’t remember him saying anything about today’s date. Granted, I couldn’t remember every detail of everything, but if it was important to him, I tried to keep track.
He smiled. “No, I just feel like spoiling them. Kennedy, Mannix and Ares are three of the best people I know. You too. My four favourite people in the whole world.” He leaned over to give me a hug.
“Sometimes I think you’re a little unhinged, but then you go and say things like that.” I squeezed him back.
“I like to keep people guessing,” he said. “Sometimes I’m sweet and sometimes a little bit psycho.”
“A little bit,” I echoed with a laugh. Some would say he was a lot more than a little bit out of his mind. But that was part of his charm. None of us would have him any other way.
“Just a bit.” He held his fingers apart as far as they’d go. “But I want to meet these guys of yours. To make sure they’re good enough for you.”
“I think you’ll like them,” I said. “Don’t go scaring them off, okay?”
His smile suggested he’d make no promises, but he wouldn’t be difficult unless they were.
I waited until he stepped out of my apartment before closing and locking the door behind him. I thought about changing the locks, but he’d find a way to get another key. Plus his presence didn’t really bother me, even if it was unexpected. And it was nice to know Belinda was taken care of.
Now she could only bother me in my dreams.